One day you go to a meeting and find the doors are locked and there is no one there. You go back again and the same thing happens. Is this possible? Absolutely. It has happened and probably will again.
It is so easy to assume that there will always be a group there for us. But, think about it. What if there wasn’t?
I was thinking about this today, as I was rereading the First Tradition. And, I have run into this situation before. It happens, when we forget that our common welfare comes first. We forget that we have to put aside our own will and desires for the good of the whole.
I remember one group, where the secretary got involved with a woman and ran off with her. The treasurer ran off with the money and the group drifted off and many got drunk. True story. That woke up a few people and they got together and restarted the group. It became a wide awake group after that and it grew into a really active group. Everyone was conscious of what had happened and knew that if they didn’t stay aware this could happen again.
Bill and Bob were so right, when they and others got together and formulated what we know as the Twelve Traditions. They had looked around and had seen what was happening to some of the groups and came up with principles, which would guide us and help us all stay sober. They are there to protect us from ourselves. If practiced, as they are written, they guide us back to the steps. They keep us in a way of life, which will help us to stay sober.
Without the Traditions there would be no groups. Without the groups we would surely drift off and lose what is most valuable to us; our sobriety. Bill points that out in the 12&12.
I was thinking how deeply spiritual these Traditions are and how essential they are to each of us. I see what happens to others, when they stop practicing the steps in their lives. It doesn’t mean that the group will fail. But, when the group fails to practice the Traditions, then it’s possible that all are in peril of the return to their active alcoholism. It’s always there, waiting for us to return.
Bill tells us that, when a group fails to be obedient to the spiritual principles of the 12 Traditions, it will sicken and die; just as an individual, who is disobedient to the spiritual principles of the steps will.
Anyway, I was thinking about this today and am grateful for the privilege of belonging to a group and remembering how essential it is to my life.